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"The Battle of the Groups"

Date range confirmed on advertisement (archived) (“10 days starting Fri. July 12”)

Bobby Taylor, leader of The Vancouvers, “The Daily Camera” (December 22, 2007) (mirror) (archived mirror)

[Bobby Taylor’s] place in rock history was sealed when [guitarist Tommy] Chong and himself discovered the Jackson 5 in 1968 when the group opened for the Vancouvers during a 10-day revue show in Chicago.

"I just loved to watch that little sucker dance," Taylor said of the first time he saw Michael Jackson.

After the Chicago shows, he immediately took the group to Detroit and brought them to the attention of Motown, where they were signed. While others such as James Brown, Gladys Knight and most notably Diana Ross would take credit for "discovering" the Jackson 5, it was Taylor who had the greatest impact on them initially.

Taylor put his singing career on hold and worked on producing the Jackson 5's first five albums. He also wrote the group's early hits Ben, ABC, I Want You Back, I'll Be There and Maybe Tomorrow. His work, however, went uncredited when he fell out with the Motown brass. He later sued the label and won but claims he has yet to see any money.

"I worked a lot with Michael Jackson. He was eight at the time. He was the voice. He had the tools. He screamed a lot. He was a James Brown at that time. Jermaine was okay and Jackie was okay. So those are the three that I used."

Tito Jackson, “The Jackson 5” member, “Examiner.com” (July 13, 2012) (mirror) (archived mirror)

Who actually did discover The Jackson Five, was it Gladys, Diana, or Suzanne? I've heard too many different stories.

Tito laughs.

“Actually, here's what happened. Diana Ross introduced us to the public, Bobby Taylor Memba dem?," he asked me offside. [No, I actually didn't remember them because I was only five when all that happened, but I slightly recalled the name because of my own parents who were also both musicians.]

“Well,” he continued… "they really convinced my father, along with Gladys Knight my father sent a tape [to Motown] in the mid-60s, about 1967, but you know they got those tapes [at the studio] and didn't listen to half of them, so who knew, right? We went to Motown after opening at the Apollo Theater and we had a choice to go on Merv Griffin or go to Motown and do an audition and we decided to go to Motown  we thought it would be the best situation for us  we auditioned for Motown after Berry heard the tape, then he invited us to a swim party  indoor pool, all that  he was throwing a party for Diana Ross and all the artists were there, the Temptations, all those artists  and we sang for them, and as they say the rest is history.”